The conversion of biomass to hydrocarbon products is generally known in the art. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy tried to develop such a technology in 1977 and ran the Biomass Liquefaction Experimental Facility in Albany, Oreg. The project had limited success and achieved the production of a thick, oxygenated oil product that had little commercial value. Also, a Dutch consortium led by Shell Oil Company built a pilot plant in 2004 to convert biomass into diesel transportation fuel using the so-called Shell HTU® process, where HTU stands for hydrothermal upgrade. This was a two-step process that used hydrothermal treatment to create a thick, oxygenated oil product that was then deoxygenated and upgraded to produce a diesel fuel in a second step. The project was dropped presumably because of low conversion rates and high capital costs.
The conversion of biomass to hydrocarbon products is generally known in the art. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy tried to develop such a technology in 1977 and ran the Biomass Liquefaction Experimental Facility in Albany, Oreg. The project had limited success and achieved the production of a thick, oxygenated oil product that had little commercial value. Also, a Dutch consortium led by Shell Oil Company built a pilot plant in 2004 to convert biomass into diesel transportation fuel using the so-called Shell HTU® process, where HTU stands for hydrothermal upgrade. This was a two-step process that used hydrothermal treatment to create a thick, oxygenated oil product that was then deoxygenated and upgraded to produce a diesel fuel in a second step. The project was dropped presumably because of low conversion rates and high capital costs.
Further, two commercial facilities utilizing hydrothermal treatment technologies have been built and operated. The first was built in Rialto, Calif. using Enertech Environmental's Slurry Carb process to treat digested sludge from municipal sewage plants in the area. It produces a relatively low value, solid product that competes with coal as an energy product. The second facility was built in Carthage, Mo., using the Thermal Conversion Process from Changing World Technologies (CWT). This facility used waste turkey parts as a biomass feed to produce a diesel oil product of un-reported value.
While there is currently much interest in the hydrothermal treatment of biomass, no one has yet to develop a process that can produce usable energy products from biomass in a commercially viable manner. Therefore, there is a considerable need in the alternative fuels processing art for commercially viable processes for producing energy products from feedstocks, such as biomass.